I have a 95 w a 302 thats been misfiring randomly and often. Its bucking when its at its worst and the temp guage climbs steadily. Ive changed. The fuel pump which did go, ive also changed the cap and rotor, t-stat and did a coolant flush. My coolant was like rust water so obviously the radiator is dirty. The oil looks fine, i dont see any sign of coolant and I wanted to add I had a coolant leak at the throttle body where i heats it up but ive since bypassed that. It did leak out quite a bit of coolant onto the plug wire on that side. Im done w the parts cannon, i need help.
Is the misfire being caused by bad/cheap plug wires or something ive missed? Also is the misfire causing it to run hot or vice a versa?

 

You can always pull the plugs out and check them. New copper core plugs are fairly cheap if you need them. Lot of people have been starting threads recently with similar issues. Go through some ignition/fuel system troubleshooting and pull codes. Yes you can pull codes even without the CEL on and there is a sticky here that says how to do it if you don't have a code reader. I don't remember when they switched to obd2 but I think the sticky is just for obd1

 

I'm pretty sure you meant trouble SHOOTING. Anyway yes do your standard diagnostic. That's always the place to start. Trouble codes, vacuum test, timing test, compression, spark, and plug check. Dont forget a thorough visual including wires and hoses. This should lead to the next set of testing if the answer isn't obvious and it will keep you from throwing parts at it. I would recommend fixing the coolant leak as it is a known issue. I would also pressure test the cooling system and check for exhaust fumes in the coolant as a sign of head gasket failure.

 

Woops. Fixed it. Lol.

 

Plugs and plug wires...coolant leaked all over the wires for how long ??

 

A few weeks, i bypassed the TB so it doesnt leak now. Mine as well replace the wires, plugs looked fine. CAn misfiring cause overheating? It is pre detination.

 

You checked the gap on each? I'm not sure, only over heating I get is if I do a lot of heavy driving and don't pay attention to my oil level. Other than a couple times like that I haven't had any overheating issues. The only time Ive had misfires are when I had an ignition coil that was going out and when I needed a timing adjustment shortly after I first bought my truck

 

Overheating can cause detonation. Or some conditions can cause misfire and overheating like a blown head gasket.